October 16, 2013 12:34pm EDTOctober 15, 2013 12:38pm EDTThe 76ers are guaranteed to finish near the bottom of the East. In doing so, their young players will undergo a trial by fire. None will take on as much as Michael Carter-Williams, SN's Sean Deveney says in our season preview.

Where they’re heading

Certainly the Sixers are on a collision course with the bottom of the standings, having constructed a roster on which the only healthy veterans of note are Evan Turner, Thaddeus Young and Spencer Hawes—and don’t be surprised when the names of all three come up in trade talks this year. The draft-day trade that sent away All-Star point guard Jrue Holiday for big man Nerlens Noel (himself recovering from knee surgery) was a signal that new Sixers general manager Sam Hinkie was taking the team into a full-on rebuild, with one of the prizes in the 2014 draft awaiting. He hired Spurs assistant Brett Brown to coach a team that, if it tops 30 wins, something will have gone terribly wrong.

Where they’ve been

The Sixers have made the playoffs four of the last six years, but that is deceptive. Only once in that span have they been over .500, and that was the lockout year in which they started 20-9 before sputtering to a 35-31 finish. Mediocrity was the norm, and the team cleaned house after last year’s 34-48 finish, hoping to change that pattern. Coach Doug Collins resigned, Rod Thorn was moved to a consulting role and Tony DiLeo, after 23 years with the franchise, was fired as general manager.

Introducing … Michael Carter-Williams

There were few smiles quite as wide on draft night as that of Carter-Williams. That’s because, after he was selected by the Sixers at No. 11, he was sitting in one of the NBA’s interview rooms when he learned that the Sixers had traded for Noel—a friend and AAU teammate of Carter-Williams’ for years in Massachusetts. Carter-Williams and Noel have good chemistry, and though Sixers fans will have to wait until Noel is healthy to see it, Carter-Williams is eagerly anticipating his friend’s return. Until then, Carter-Williams—as a 6-6 point guard with the build of a Twizzler and a 39.3 shooting percentage at Syracuse last year—will be undergoing a trial by fire, handed the starting job from Day One.

Numbers game

12.1. That was the PER (player efficiency rating) of Evan Turner last year, even as he averaged 13.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists. Advanced stats have never taken a shine to Turner’s game, and last year, even though he improved to 36.5 percent from the 3-point line, his 41.9 percent overall shooting torpedoed his efficiency (the position average is 15.0). Turner will probably take on the role of primary scorer for the Sixers this year, but given Hinkie’s adherence to advanced stats, it is uncertain whether Turner has much of a future with the team.